Response of Arctic ecosystems to climate trends in the last two decades

AGU 2021 fall meeting B074 - The Resilience and Vulnerability of Arctic and Boreal Ecosystems to Climate Change Response of Arctic ecosystems to climate trends in the last two decades Nima Madani and Nicholas C. Parazoo Terrestrial ecosystem productivity as the largest land-atmosphere annual carbon flux and the primary mechanism of creation of organic matter by plants, is critical component to reverse the impact of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. In this regard, carbon cycling in arctic and boreal ecosystems, which contain large carbon stocks and are rapidly changing, strongly impact Earth's climatecarbon feedback. The Arctic-Boreal zone in the last few decades has experienced widespread warming and coherent changes in various ecosystem components including land surface characteristics, vegetation productivity, hydrological cycles, permafrost thaw and fire disturbance. Recent observations and models suggest that summer carbon sequestration is becoming increasingly offset by release of carbon from soils due to warmer and dryer climate. Reduced carbon uptake during the peak of the growing season and increasing in fire activity could turn these biomes to a net carbon source. Here, we use a suite of satellite observation and models to assess the response of Arctic and boreal ecosystems to changes in climate in the last two decades.